The Sub Finally Rises

After 136 years, a Civil War mystery may be solved
Back from the bottom: A crane lifted H.L. Hunley after 136 years on the ocean floor

By Daniel Pedersen
NEWSWEEK

August 12 — On the night of Feb. 17, 1864, the Confederate Navy introduced the art of
stealth technology to naval warfare. As the Union blockade of Charleston suffocated the
South Carolina port, the rebels unleashed a “porpoise.” At least that’s what officers on
the USS Housatonic thought they saw rippling toward them in the dark. It was a porpoise
with fangs.